Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition - Episode 25 - Illnesses that are Triggered or Aggravated by Stress

September 11, 2019 Kitty Boitnott Season 1 Episode 25
Teachers in Transition
Teachers in Transition - Episode 25 - Illnesses that are Triggered or Aggravated by Stress
Show Notes Transcript

Today's episode is about how certain diseases and conditions can be triggered or aggravated by stressful events in our lives whether the stress is "happy" or "bad" stress. The body's natural state is healthy, but when the body experiences certain conditions like arthritis, Lupus, diabetes, heart disease, etc., stress can cause flare-ups and aggravate their conditions. One solution is to practice extreme self-care in an effort to restore the body to its "natural healthy state." Learn more by listening to the podcast episode.

Kitty Boitnott:

Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for"Teachers in Transition." In some episodes I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to"Teachers in Transition." Welcome back to"Teachers in Transition." This is Kitty Boitnott. I am speaking for the Youtube Channel and podcast and today's topic is stress again. Last week I talked about a career topic and this week we're talking about stress. And in particular I want to talk just briefly about certain ailments and illnesses that are either triggered by or aggravated by stress and there are a number of them. In fact, there are many of them and I won't be able to cover them all here. But many people are not aware, for example, that if you suffer from chronic illness such as fibromyalgia or arthritis or certain autoimmune diseases, that those conditions can be made worse by experiencing stress. A stressful event will trigger a flare up of arthritis or some other condition that you may not have always connected before. That stress is an underlying cause and it can be tricky because you may or may not be fully aware of the stress that your body is experiencing. As a result of an event that's happening in your life. Don't forget that not all stress is bad and some stress is caused by happy events, not just bad events, not just things that feel, um, uncomfortable for us planning a wedding or expecting a baby or planning a big trip. These are all stressors. There are things that make us happy that we look forward to, that we're anticipating, but they're nonetheless very stressful. And if you have another kind of condition, whether it is, uh, hypertension or some sort of cardiac illness or gastrointestinal issues, uh, perhaps you struggle with obesity, you're overweight and you are, are not quite sure what you should be doing to get a handle on that. And if you're stressed, you're not even particularly worried about it, you may just eat for, for comfort because you need the dopamine hits that sugary foods tend to offer. Um, and so stress can cause us to behave in ways that will trigger or aggravate and another illness or condition. I've worked with clients in the past who've had things like Lupus for example, or um, arthritis. And they will call me in part because they're wanting to get a handle on their stress and that, so they, they contact me because I am a stress management coach, but they're also looking to make a career transition because what they've recognized is that their careers are creating stress in their lives that they would also like to eliminate by looking for a less stressful job or position. And I can help with that. What I urge people to do though is to undertake extreme self care. And this is particularly important if you suffer from any of any number of the ongoing illnesses. Did mean, I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but the American Medical Association has indicated through one of its studies that somewhere between 75 and 90% of all visits to our primary care physicians are related to some particular stress ailment and includes like diabetes. Diabetes can be made worse with stress. Certain kinds of cancers can be contributed to by stress. Like I said, heart disease can be made worse and aggravated by stress. Um, gastrointestinal issues like chronic Bell's syndrome or, um, irritable bowel syndrome. Um, diarrhea, chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation. All of those are symptoms of something that's not working in your body. Your body is supposed to be in constant flow, right? If it's healthy, and here's the, here's the real key for you to take away from this episode. Your body in its natural state is healthy. Think about when you cut yourself, right? You have an accident and the and the kitchen and you accidentally clip yourself with the paring knife, or you, you pierce your skin with, with a steak knife as you're getting ready to eat, you know there are all kinds of things can happen, but you've cut yourself somehow. Think about how it bleeds it first, but then almost as soon as it started to bleed, unless it's a really deep cut, it will stop bleeding with a little bit of pressure and it begins to heal. Almost immediately. Your body's defensive defenses rush to that wound to create this gap that eventually disappears because your body's natural state is health and wellness. When you are suffering from any illness, your body is fighting to get it back into a natural, healthy state. But if you're constantly stressed, you're at war with your own body or you're fighting against your own healthy instincts. So self care, remembering that your body in its natural state is healthy, seeking a healthy balance that can help to--you can't eliminate the stress but you can alleviate and we leave some of the stress so that whatever your chronic illness may be won't be triggered for flare up or won't be aggravated. I'm not saying that managing your stress will eliminate your fibromyalgia or do away with your diabetes or take of your, your arthritic pain. I'm not trying to suggest that at all. But I am saying that if you can take measures to relieve and release some of your stress by taking care of yourself, you can minimize to some degree the symptoms of those other illnesses that you may be experiencing. And it may be easier for you to keep your diabetes in checks just for example. It may be easier for you to not IX experience and arthritic flare up just as an example. Those are the kinds of things that I think you can practice to help you feel stronger, more resilient and healthier in the long run. It is important to remember that our natural state is one of health and wellbeing. That when outside forces are bombarding us, causing us to feel stressed out, causing us to not pay attention to our own health, causing us to be so outward thinking that we forget about taking care of ourselves. That's when we run into trouble. And that's when we can experience these additional ailments and and flare ups and aggravated conditions. Self care is not selfish. Self care simply means that you are taking care of yourself, your mind, your body, and your spirit in such a way that you protect yourself from some of the outward forces that would otherwise cause you discomfort, stress and pain. So practice some extreme self care on a day to day basis and keep in mind that your natural state is one of health, not of disease. And when you are feeling unwell and and easy with some sort of dis-ease, the thing to try to work toward is getting back into a natural state of health. And one way to do that is to do whatever you need to do for yourself to take extreme care of yourself. That's it for today. I'll talk to you next week about as a career transition strategy or technique. In between if you would please subscribe to this podcast or YouTube channel, whichever platform you may be watching or listening to leave a review if you would. I appreciate it. Send me any questions that you may have and I'll be happy to try to cover them in a future episode. That's it for today though. This is kitty boy, not at teachers and transition. Bye Bye. So there you have it, an episode of"Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to"Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at KittyBoitnott@BoitnottCoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is"Teachers in Transition."